Bank Capital Question Must be Resolved

By

Simon Nixon

Nov. 11, 2012 5:34 p.m. ET

How much capital should a bank hold in the post-crisis world? Five years after the financial crisis broke, this question is still not resolved—particularly in the U.K. where it is reaching new levels of intensity. Senior policy makers have been queuing up in recent weeks to make speeches proclaiming their belief that the U.K. banking system is undercapitalized, with the governor of the Bank of England prominent among them. The current window of opportunity provided by recent central bank actions needs to be used to restore the capital position of the U.K. banking system, Mervyn King said last month. "I am not...